ISLAMABAD: In an effort to set the stage for moving the conversation process along, PTI’s negotiating team has chosen to make two first demands in their next meeting with a government team, which is set for later this week.
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq will preside over an in-camera meeting between the federal government and PTI negotiating teams on January 2, according to a notification released by the NA Secretariat on Monday, according to Dawn.com. The two parties will meet for the second time.
The notification states that on Thursday, January 2, 2025, at 11:30 a.m., Mr. Sadiq “will chair a 2nd meeting (in-camera) on negotiations beteen Treasury and Opposition” at Parliament House.
The release of political prisoners awaiting prosecution and the establishment of a judicial commission to look into the events of May 9, 2023, and November 26 are the two first requests that the PTI has chosen to stick to in the negotiations that are set for Thursday, according to sources.
Thursday’s in-camera meeting at Parliament House will be chaired by the NA speaker.
It was irritated by the “illogical and absurd statements” regarding the talks made by government ministers, according to background conversations with party officials. It wanted the ruling party to reconsider its “nonsensical approach and create a favourable environment for talks.”
According to sources, the party will submit a written request for these requests to the administration on January 2 and hopes that these issues would be resolved as a means of fostering confidence before proceeding.
One of the PTI’s principal parliamentary partners, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, the chairman of the Sunni Ittehad Council, had earlier declared that the party would give the government till January 31 to wrap up the current talks.
The deadline for discussions is January 31. Omar Ayub will formally give them this ultimatum on January 2, when our committee meets with the administration to continue the negotiations,” he had stated.
A committee comprising KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, SIC chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza, former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub was established earlier this month by PTI founder Imran Khan to negotiate the party’s demands with the government.
However, only Mr. Qaiser, the head of the SIC, and Senator Raja Nasir Abbas of MWM represented the PTI side at the most recent meeting.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, PM’s political aide Rana Sanaullah, Senator Irfan Siddiqui (who has also been designated as the government team’s spokesperson), PPP members Raja Parvez Ashraf and Naveed Qamar, IPP leader Aleem Khan, PML-Q leader Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Sardar Khalid Magsi of the Balochistan Awami Party, and Farooq Sattar of the MQM-P are among the team that PM Shehbaz Sharif has assembled to negotiate with the PTI.
